This invention relates to a drag box or box scraper for scraping and moving loose or stuck debris on road surfaces being prepared to be resurfaced or paved. Drag box scrapers have been commonly used for years to drag road building materials from the surface of a road under construction or renovation.
Drag boxes are commonly connected to a tractor or other vehicle with a three point hitch. The three point hitch is used to attach an implement to a tractor and transfers some of the weight and resistance of the drag box to the drive wheels of the tractor.
Drag boxes can have a problem due to the curve blades and the fact that the blades are mounted to the rear of the box commonly used on soil beds that are being graded level.
The drag box of the present invention rides on replaceable side shoes mounted to the side plates of the drag box frame which allows for a main scraping edge that is mounted in the center of the box and allows for the box to have the same debris holding capacity in the forward or reverse direction.
The main scraping edge is flat not a curved blade as in a blade used to remove dirt on soft surfaces. The flat vertically main blade described on the current invention is necessary to allow the blade to be able to relieve itself from objects such as manholes commonly found on road surfaces being prepared for resurfacing.
The drag box is mounted to the three point hitch frame by means of a pivot. The pivotable actions allow the box to flex independent of the three point hitch. This pivotable action is necessary during the intended use of the described box scraper. During the cleaning or scraping operations it is common for obstacles such as manholes to be covered with debris. During the scraping process of dragging a common dirt box blade on hard road surfaces using a curved blade mounted to the rear of the box can get stuck on an elevated manhole cover or access ports. When the common dirt style box blade engages these types of obstacles, the blade can become lodged thereagainst causing damage to the box blade, tractor and operator. The present invention provides for the box to tilt by means of the pivot capabilities allowing the straight or flat vertical center mount blade to change its angle of contact allowing the blade to slip over the obstacle. The side shoes combined with the center mounted main blade also work together along with the pivotable capability to lift the main scraping edge over the obstacle.
The three point hitch allows for the removable mounting of a pair of water tanks on the three point hitch box to provide additional weight for the drag box and which water tanks are connected to a water sprayer system to spray liquid for dust suppression in the road preparation process.